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The Center for New
Thinking and it's wonderful faculty present weekly lectures
at
The Center for New Thinking at
725 South Adams Rd Suite L41
Birmingham, Michigan
(248) 646-0416
Lecture subjects
vary and cover a wide range of intellectual, cultural and historical
topics. To be put on the mailing list for these lectures, write to:
The Center for New Thinking
725 South Adams Rd Suite L41
Birmingham, Michigan 48009
248-646-0416
TUESDAY, 7:30 - 9:00 P.M. Center Library, 725 S. Adams / Birmingham
May 2007 - Revolutionaries
Over the last three centuries a new political profession has emerged. The ‘revolutionary’ has jumped on the stage of history and has transformed it.
May 1 Maximilien Robespierre King of Terror
7:30 p.m.
The French Revolution overthrew the ruling classes of France and went to war with the rest of Europe. At the heart of the Revolution was a charismatic lawyer who was the leader of the Jacobins, the radical faction of the revolutionary leaders. Maximilien Robespierre achieved control of the revolutionary government when foreign armies converged on France to restore the old regime. He initiated the infamous Reign of Terror to punish ‘traitors’. Hundreds of heads rolled off the guillotine. Was he the monster his enemies depicted?
May 8 Vladimir Lenin ‘Tsar’ of the Bolsheviks
7:30 p.m.
Ulyanov was his real name. Lenin was his revolutionary name. His body still lies embalmed for public view in Red Square. Born to a bourgeois family, Lenin turned radical when his revolutionary brother was killed. Embracing Marxism, he became the boldest Marxist leader in Europe. The trauma of the First World War gave him an unexpected opportunity to seize power with his Bolshevik faction. Once in power, he became a dictator who transformed Russia. Would the story of Bolshevik Russia have been different had he not died early from a stroke?
May 15 Kemal Atatürk Transformer of the Muslim World
7:30 p.m.
Mustapha Kemal was his real name. Kemal Atatürk was his revolutionary title. A soldier of the Ottoman Empire, he had joined the Young Turks in their attempt to rescue a dying kingdom. When the Ottomans were crushed in the First World War and the Turkish homeland was threatened with a takeover by native Greeks and Armenians, Atatürk mobilized a new army, dismissed the Sultan and crushed his enemies. Achieving power, he determined to modernize the Turks, and to transform Turkey into a secular state. His legacy is still controversial.
May 22 Benito Mussolini Father of Fascism
7:30 p.m.
Mussolini began as a socialist. But the First World War transformed him. He became a leader of disgruntled veterans and a champion of military discipline. Opposing both capitalism and communism, he fashioned a new ideology which advocated the militarization of society under a supreme leader. Marching on Rome he seized power in 1922. The fascist Italy he created lasted until 1945. During that time he became Il Duce (The Leader), went to war with Ethiopia, became an ally of Hitler and suffered a humiliating defeat. His story is fascinating.
May 29 Mao Zedong The Failed Dictator
7:30 p.m.
Still revered in Communist China, Mao was the most powerful ‘emperor’ that China ever knew. He turned the failing Communists into a powerful force by embracing the peasants, conquering a territorial base and operating the Red Army. When the Japanese were defeated he rapidly took over China and transformed the country. His grand campaign to collectivize China failed. The disastrous Cultural Revolution followed, which destroyed the morale and economy of China. However, the rising power of the new China is built on the base which he created.
June 2007 - Vanished Nations
There are certain nations which made a dramatic splash in history and then vanished.Recent discoveries have made their story less mysterious and more fascinating.
June 5 Phoenicians Empire of Merchants
7:30 p.m.
At one time the Phoenicians controlled the Mediterranean through the power of their commerce and colonies. In the Bible the Phoenicians are called Canaanites. Modern historians tell us that the Canaanites were blood brothers of the Jews. Hebrew and Phonician were one and the same language. The Phoenicians were based in what today is northern Israel and Lebanon. Their cities of Tyre and Sidon were the wealthiest cities of their day. Inventors of the alphabet, they made literacy possible for most of the human race. But their religion featured child sacrifice.
June 12 Etruscans Creators of Rome
7:30 p.m.
Without the Etruscans there would have been no Rome or Roman Empire. Their advanced culture lies at the foundation of Roman achievement. A fierce debate raged for many years about their origins. Some scholars claimed that they were natives of Italy. Others maintained that they came from Asia Minor (Turkey). Recent discoveries reveal that they had come from the East, from the place which also gave birth to Greek culture. Etruscan art and Etruscan tombs are magnificent tributes to the sophistication of this mysterious people.
June 19 Goths Conquers of Europe
7:30 p.m.
The word ‘Gothic’ is everywhere. But few people realize that the Goths were a powerful Teutonic nation who occupied large areas of Central and Eastern Europe. Assaulted by invading Huns from Asia, they sought protection in the Roman Empire. Ultimately they went to war with the Romans and seized large chunks of it in the Balkans, Italy, Gaul and Spain. In time they would be vanquished by the Arabs in Spain. For a long time mysterious, Gothic culture has recently been revealed in all its glory.
June 26 Iroquois On the Edge of Empire
7:30 p.m.
The Iroquois are famous in American history. They were the allies of the English and the enemies of the French. Detroit was founded by the French to defy them. The historic Amerindian foes of the Iroquois were the Algonquins. The culture of the Algonquins was less advanced than that of the Iroquois. Six powerful Iroquois tribes in what today is upstate New York were prepared to conquer the Algonquins and create an Iroquois empire just before the Europeans arrived and foiled their plans. Stories of the Iroquois reveal what an extraordinary nation they were.
THURSDAY 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM BIRMINGHAM UNITARIAN CHURCH (Woodward/Lone Pine Road)
May 2007 - The New America
America is changing. The population is moving. The South and the West are growing. The Midwest is declining. How are these changes affecting the culture of America?
May 3 Miraculous California Window to Asia
10:00 a.m.
California is now the ‘largest’ state in the Union. It is also a state in which a majority of the people are Hispanic. Asians are omnipresent. A high percentage of the population are not natives. They are part of the unending stream of ‘immigrants’ that are transforming the West Coast. California is the harbinger of things to come, the trendsetter of the world. But underneath the glitter of prosperity and growth there are problems. Living on a geologic fault is one. The rising political power of the Hispanics is another.
May 10 Aging Florida A Rising American Power
10:00 a.m.
Once a poor backwater of the American South, Florida has become one of the fastest growing states of the country. In the 1920’s Florida became the winter playground of the rich seeking tropical comforts. But the middle class was to follow. Armies of retired people poured into Florida. Postwar prosperity, the wonders of modern medicine and rising expectations transformed the state. Huge settlements of old people and Northerners filled up the spaces of southern Florida. Dichotomies of age, wealth and culture now dominate this powerful region.
May 17 Texas and the South New Home of the Republicans
10:00 a.m.
After the Civil War, the South became poor and Democratic. Millions of Southerners, Black and White, trekked North for jobs. Money and power were in the North. But no more. After the Second World War the high cost of labor drove industry to the South, The rising importance of oil transformed Texas. The desire of professionals and corporate managers to work in more congenial climates turned Charlotte, Atlanta and Dallas into shinning new cities. The civil rights movement and the new prosperity pushed Whites into the Republican Party. And the culture of the South, embodying the Religious Right, took the White House.
May 24 Declining Midwest The Land of Emigrants
10:00 a.m.
The Industrial Revolution turned the cities of the Midwest into giants of manufacturing. Millions of immigrants came from Europe and the South to provide cheap labor for the burgeoning factories. Ultimately, prosperity brought powerful unions that pushed the workers into the middle class. But nothing stands still. Globalization arrived to wreak havoc in the Midwest. Corporate outsourcing and rising expectations for climate comfort have undermined economic security. Only Chicago manages to hold on. What does the future promise?
May 31 Remaking the Northeast Life after Manufacturing
10:00 a.m.
America began on the shores of the Atlantic. New York, Boston and Philadelphia were the great cities after the Revolution. Time and immigration turned them into great centers of settlement, manufacturing and culture. New York became the money center of the world. But unions and globalization have undone manufacturing. Factories moved elsewhere. The Northeast is now remaking itself. High tech, service industries and the institutions of culture have taken first place. Universities, museums, publishing and entertainment provide the glitter.
June 2007 - Religious Controversy
Religion is struggling with the assaults of the secular world. In the Western world, in particular, religion is experiencing some dramatic confrontations.
June 7 Anglicans and Episcopalians The Emerging Split
10:00 a.m.
Because of the British Empire, the Church of England turned into a world communion. Millions of English settlers and native converts created an Anglican presence in many lands. Ever since the Revolution, American Anglicans have been called Episcopalians. Supported by pedigree and wealth, Episcopalians have remained at the top of the American social scale. But now there is trouble. The consecration of a homosexual bishop and the celebration of homosexual unions by the American church has infuriated the other members of the Anglican communion. The prospect of a split has created havoc.
June 14 American Religious Right Life after Bush
10:00 a.m.
The protestant Evangelicals in America, who are called the Religious Right, have enjoyed political power over the last 25 years. Both Reagan and the two Bushes embraced them. They became an important power broker in the Republican Party. The current President Bush became their passionate devotee. Now, with a Democratic Congress and the prospect of a Democratic president, they are feeling threatened. Disputes have broken out among them as to what direction the Religious Right should take. Will their power diminish?
June 21 Catholics in Europe Fighting the Secularist Enemy
10:00 a.m.
Pope Benedict has defined his new papacy as a war against the secularization of Europe, the homeland of the Catholic Church. Dramatic changes have taken place in Catholic Europe. Church attendance has dramatically fallen. Mass attendance fell decades ago in the Netherlands and Germany. But now the Catholic stalwarts of Italy, Spain, Poland and Ireland have collapsed. Except for Poland, their birth rates are the lowest in Europe. And their seminaries are empty. Religion has become unpopular among the young. What does it all mean?
June 28 Evangelicals in Latin America Renewal of an Old War
10:00 a.m.
One of the greatest exports of the United States is Protestant Evangelical missionaries. One of their favorite destinations is Latin America. Today over one-fifth of the Christians in Latin America are Protestant. For the Catholic Church, which, at one time, claimed the allegiance of all Latin American Christians, this development is a disaster. The Protestant missionaries have created dynamic and militant communities which proselytize the more ambivalent Catholics. The Catholic hierarchy is not quite sure how to respond. What does this mean for the future of Christianity in Latin America?
SATURDAY REVIEWS
Saturday, 10:30 - 12:00 noon Center Library 725 S. Adams / Birmingham
May / June 2007
Exploring the Best in Current Literature
May 12 Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Hirsi is a Somali refugee and a famous Muslim feminist. She fled her homeland to avoid a forced marriage. In Holland she became an outspoken member of the Dutch Parliament. Her life was always in danger. Now in America she writes about the problems of Islam.
May 19 Once Upon a Country by Sari Nusseibeh
Nusseibeh is an elegant Palestinian intellectual from an aristocratic family. He writes about the unending war. He condemns Israel. But he also condemns the Palestinians who have become a nation addicted to violence.
May 26 Londonistan by Melanie Phillips
When London was hit by suicide bombers in July 2005, it became clear that Britain had become a major center of Muslim extremism. London and the rest of Europe were being transformed by Muslim immigrants.
SUMMER FORUM
July 2007 - Harry Cook
Thursday, 10:00 a.m. Birmingham Unitarian Church
Cultivating the Agnostic Approach
July 12 Agnosticism in Religion Alternative to Dogma
Traditional religion featured dogmatic beliefs which were founded on faith. But the age of science has difficulty with beliefs which are not supported by evidence.
July 19 Agnosticism in Law and Ethics Openness to Change
For many people the moral law is absolute and unchanging. But, for others, ethical rules must always be evaluated by checking their consequences.
July 26 Agnosticism in Public Policy Cultivating a Healthy Skepticism
When it comes to politics jingoistic nationalist slogans are no substitute for careful and responsible truth.
SUMMER FORUM
August 2007 - Sherwin Wine
Thursday, 10:00 a.m. Birmingham Unitarian Church
Four War Elections
Aug. 9 Lincoln vs. McLellan (1864) During the Civil War
Many people thought that Lincoln would lose the election in 1864. The North was exhausted from war with no victory in sight. The Democrats chose George McLellan, the popular general that Lincoln had fired. But Sherman took Atlanta during the campaign.
Aug. 16 Roosevelt vs. Dewey (1944) During World War II
Roosevelt was the charismatic war leader who had been elected to a third term in 1940. But he was ill and dying. His opponent was Thomas Dewey, the governor of New York, who had achieved fame as a crime buster. Dewey was doing very well until he ‘attacked’ the President’s dog Fala.
Aug. 23 Eisenhower vs. Stevenson (1952) During the Korean War
By 1952 the Korean War was two years old. The casualties were high. Victory was not possible. Truman was not popular. The McCarthy inquisition was going strong. The Republicans chose a popular general, Dwight D. Eisenhower. The Democrats chose the witty governor of Illinois, Adlai Stevenson. Korea and Commumism were the big issues.
Aug. 30 Nixon vs. Humphrey (1968) During the Vietnam War
In 1968 the nation was in turmoil over the Vietnam War. The Democratic Party was divided. Johnson was widely hated. The Republicans chose Richard Nixon, who had lost to Kennedy. The Democrats chose Vice-president Hubert Humphrey who supported the war. Dissident Democrats chose Eugene McCarthy who opposed the war. The passions were high.
Pioneers of New
Thinking
Spring Celebration
The Center will honor
Marie Curie
Special Tribute by Sherwin Wine
Exhibit on Curie’s Life • Portrait Dedication • Gala Reception
Saturday, May 5, 10:30 am.
Center Library, 725 South Adams, Birmingham
Ten Dollars (Free to Members of the Center)
31st Anniversary Celebration
of the Center for New Thinking
Monday June 25, 7:30 p.m. • Townsend Hotel / Birmingham
Sherwin Wine will present an
Evening in Ancient Athens
with the voices of
Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes
The star playwrights of Ancient Greece
Special Dessert Reception • $16 per person • Reservations 248-646-0416
   
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